I now am thoroughly caught up in RTW fever. My wife and I are planning something of a sabbatical next year and it looks like a couple of DONE5 tickets will fill the bill nicely. And while the main purpose of this exercise is travel to places we haven't been or want to re-visit, I also want to capture the greatest mileage benefits and AA elite status levels that go with the big trip(s).

I've gone through a lot of the postings on this board and on various other sites and FT boards, and I think I know some of the answers, but can I lay out some OWE and mileage questions here so I can "consolidate" the information in one place? I am just knocked out by the knowledge and patience you all show on this forum, so forgive newbie errors or lapses in my research.

Here's the present thinking on itinerary, all this starting around the first of August next year.

Not using OWE
SEA (home) DFW LHR
LHR PRG TLV
TLV CAI - on LY. Looking forward to what must be a strange experience.

START DONE5
CAI LHR (S/O)
LHR CPT
CPT JNB
JNB SYD
SYD CHC
CHC AKL
AKL BNE
BNE HKG
HKG PEK
PEK HKG
HKG YVR (then home for a couple of months.)
YVR JFK (on CX, only North America transcon)
JFK DFW
DFW SEA
SEA ORD (then own nickel ORD LGA ORD)
ORD SEA
SEA DFW
DFW LHR (No S/O)
LHR BCN (S/O - second in Europe)
BCN TLV END DONE5 (Ending in different Middle East city - allowed?) I think this would be around April 2006.

Then TLV LHR SEA, maybe via DFW or ORD for AA miles; alternatively we might start another xONEx cycle then.

First, where have I messed up with the routing? I think I've reviewed the Star files re codeshares, doubling back, and whose metal is where, but misteaks happen.

Second, mileage and elite status: From what I gather I'd be an idiot not to use this for a Platinum Challenge. Even if I started with no Q-miles when I left home, it looks like I'd hit the 10K Q-miles for the challenge during the LHR CPT segment. So when would Platinum benefits start accruing? If you hit AA Platinum far from an AA office, what do you do? Or will the computer handle the bonus miles etc? There are a lot of miles on this route, so using it as a jumping-off point for elite status seems pretty logical. (Becomes irrationally exuberant.)

I'll stop there and wait for any answers or critiques, for which many thanks in advance.